Office and educational environments make extensive use of tables, particularly freestanding tables, for defining working or training stations. The demand for increased storage space for accessories and supplies, and/or the need for greater privacy, however, have resulted in many prior tables of this type being modified to permit mounting of an upright support adjacent the rear edge of the worksurface so as to mount either an upright privacy screen and/or accessories which support or mount supplies or the like. These prior attempts have primarily involved the provision of an upright rail or support arrangement which has required support legs which fixedly attach to the worksurface, with the worksurface often being provided with special mounting hardware recessed therein for fixedly attaching the legs of the mounting rail. Arrangements of this type are disadvantageous, however, since not only does the attachment or detachment of the rail from the worksurface require a greater effort because of the mechanical connections involved, but the construction of the worksurface requires special manufacturing manipulations and special parts which increase the cost and complexity of the worksurface, and which detract from the appearance of the worksurface when the upright support rail is not utilized.
It is an object of this invention to provide a table or desk which optionally permits an upright rear panel to be readily mounted on or removed from the worksurface adjacent the rear edge thereof, which arrangement overcomes disadvantages of the type mentioned above inasmuch as the upright panel arrangement of this invention can be easily and effectively mounted on or removed from the rear edge of the worksurface without complex mechanical manipulations, and the arrangement can be mounted on the worksurface without requiring any special constructional features of the worksurface so as to simplify the manufacture thereof.
Briefly, according to the present invention, a table or desk is provided with a horizontally enlarged worksurface, and a bracket-supported rear panel arrangement can be readily mounted to a project upwardly along the rear edge of the worksurface. The arrangement includes a pair of upright brackets which have lower parts which create a clamping engagement around the rear edge of the worksurface so that special constructional features on the worksurface are not required. The brackets have upright parts which project upwardly and, along rear vertical edges thereof, have attachment structure for permitting an upright panel to be attached thereto, which panel is then disposed directly adjacent the rear edge of the worksurface and projects upwardly and longitudinally thereof. The bracket includes first and second attachment structures associated therewith, with one attachment structure permitting a grid-like panel to be mounted thereon, which grid-like panel in turn accommodates mounting of other accessories thereon. Alternatively, or in conjunction with the grid-like panel, the second attachment structure permits a privacy screen or tack board to be attached to the brackets, the latter being disposed so as to be spaced somewhat rearwardly of the location where the grid-like panel is mounted, if utilized.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with structures of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.